My new toy

I've got a new toy. It's small, shiny and white, quite stylish really. It has wireless even. There's a display, which has me glued. Even 4 year old and baby are taken by it - must be because it gets so much attention so they wonder what it's all about.

We've been doing silly things like switching on the hoover or the kettle to see what it does to my new toy. And switched it off again. It's an energy monitor and apparently just having it in the house will make you reduce your electricity consumption significantly (I don't get how and why, because, if you're energy aware anyhow, and try not to have anything on that isn't needed, how can the mere presence of this slinky little thing change your habits?) I've been told.

Can we get it to zero? No, I think there are switches in this house that I don't know of and I'm not mad enough to switch off freezer and fridge, though who knows, it may still happen, just to see if, once all appliances I know of are switched off, there is still some sneaky something eating our money.

Of course it's summer and even a good one at that, so we're out a lot and not using much electricity at the moment. It's quite reassuring that even after a few days, our total consumption doesn't add up to any significant amount. I'm surprised how little the hoover uses when on economy setting, and how much the kettle does. I've definitely switched off lights a tad more frequently already, and ventured into cooking in the half light (we have a very dark kitchen and dining room and the lights are usually on there).

Oh it is fascinating, my geekdom is most definitely tickled. I even managed to install it myself (it was easy, so I don't think I can really pride myself with great DIY skills, but still). I've done tests of all kinds checking what makes the numbers change. For example: the chargers plugged into the socket which are warm, surely they'll be using energy? But no, no change detected. How about the microwave, there's a display, so some energy must be going in all the time? Yes, it does. Not a lot, but enough to make me switch it off at the socket in the future. The same must apply to my oven, just that I haven't got the foggiest where to switch it off (and I do use it as a clock, so I might stick with it).

I'll have my new toy for another 2 months, I wonder if it will change our habits and save us some money. tbc.

How Germany saves energy

Let's be fair though, Germany also saves some energy where the UK doesn't. As Martin rightly pointed out in the comment section, insulation goes a lot further in some countries, Germany being one of them. In recent years there was a lot of house building going on and the specifications are much more energy efficient than anything available in the UK. Last year, when we visited Munich, the plane landed into a sea of solar panels. It seemed that every single house had solar panels and new houses are built with efficient (as much as it pains me to use this adjective with anything relating to Germany) insulation and many also come with some form of renewables.

Compare this to our post victorian mid terrace: single glazing, lots of windows, uninsulated loft and drafty floorboards. The suggestion to turn down thermostats or the gas boiler for the central heating is met with a sarcastic laughter, because when it gets cold, so are we. We can't actually get the house warm in winter.

We jumped at the offer of the Energy Saving Trust to conduct an energy efficiency assessment. I even contacted them directly to explore ways of saving energy and maybe even installing renewables. The problem we encountered was that while we got lots of leaflets through the door and were able to request a visit, nothing much actually happened. I think I completed their questionnaires about 4 times (online, twice over the phone and face to face), but never got further than a promise of a visit/call/loft insulation (none of which actually happened). As to getting some feedback on whether or not we could install renewables - all my requests seem to have petered out into thin air. We have not had a visit, and I can't tell myself if solar panels are a viable option (I fear not).

And as far as loft insulation is concerned - we went through our energy provider who was very quick (with some hiccups, but nothing serious) and got it done and dusted.

Unfortunately the house is too old for cavity wall insulation, and the windows may be single glazed but they are lovely and original, so we'll be sticking to the thick curtains for now. Insulating the floorboards may still be a good plan for next winter, but beyond that we're stuck with the make of the house. And the hot water bottle.